GLA-B LED WITH 1:34 LEFT. THEN SACRED HEART TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY.

GLA-B LED WITH 1:34 LEFT. THEN SACRED HEART TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY.

The Knights’ perimeter shot-making nearly overturned an 11-point deficit, but Sacred Heart’s defensive pressure, interior control, and late-game composure produced an 8–0 closing run—and a 65–60 victory.

By the Sano Hoops Editorial Desk

For nearly four quarters, GLA Knights Team B and the SHA Flaming Warriors contested every inch of the floor.

The game featured 10 lead changes, seven deadlocks, and several tactical reversals. GLA-B stretched the defense with efficient perimeter shooting. Sacred Heart countered through paint occupation, aggressive ball pressure, and possession-by-possession discipline.

With 1:34 remaining, GLA-B held a 60–57 advantage.

It never scored again.

Sacred Heart closed the contest with eight unanswered points, seized control of the decisive possessions, and completed a 65–60 victory that elevated the Flaming Warriors into the playoff positions.

FIRST QUARTER: NEITHER TEAM YIELDED CONTROL

Sacred Heart established its interior intentions immediately.

Ruiz Laurence Salomon opened the scoring before Niño Jay Dospueblos converted inside, but GLA-B responded through Gian Charles Buntag and John Joseph Gaas. Nash Noynay’s work around the glass gave the Knights additional possessions, while Rexcel Gabe Cajegas supplied their first perimeter breakthrough.

The quarter developed into a tactical exchange rather than a sustained run. The score was tied at 2–2, 4–4, and 6–6 before Sacred Heart briefly created separation through Salomon’s three-pointer.

GLA-B answered by attacking the gaps around SHA’s interior coverage. Cajegas gave the Knights their first lead at 10–9 and later buried a three-pointer for a 15–13 advantage.

Coach Lyndon John Pecaoco’s Flaming Warriors did not allow the quarter to escape. Dirk Ian Pantinos generated a late steal, and Joshnel Lagapa reclaimed the lead with a finish in the closing seconds.

Sacred Heart ended the opening period ahead, 16–15.

The one-point margin accurately reflected the balance: GLA-B was finding enough perimeter space, while SHA was building its offense through assisted interior actions and defensive disruption.

SECOND QUARTER: SACRED HEART’S PRESSURE CHANGED THE GAME

GLA-B opened the second quarter aggressively.

Ezekiel Pio Pullida and Mark Jason Rabadon scored consecutive baskets, giving the Knights a 19–16 lead. Coach Jelbert Roto’s group appeared to have found a workable formula—quick attacks before Sacred Heart could establish its pressure alignment.

Then the entire texture of the game changed.

Anton Niño Moria tied the contest with a three-pointer before completing a four-point personal sequence at the line. Kurt Santoyas followed with a transition finish, then repeatedly disrupted GLA-B’s initiation with three steals.

Sacred Heart’s guards began compressing the usable floor. Ball-handlers were forced away from preferred angles, passing windows narrowed, and consecutive live-ball turnovers allowed SHA to attack before GLA-B could recover its defensive shape.

Pantinos converted off another steal. Merth Jay Canillo finished at the rim. Ceazar Jay Fuentes added perimeter spacing.

What began as a three-point GLA-B advantage became a 30–19 Sacred Heart lead through a devastating 14–0 run.

The surge represented Coach Pecaoco’s defensive blueprint at its most effective: pressure the point of attack, deny comfortable entry passes, and transform turnovers into immediate paint pressure.

GLA-B did not completely unravel. Buntag’s free throws, Val Andrew Matig-a’s defensive activity, and a late Buntag basket reduced the margin.

But Sacred Heart had controlled the quarter, 17–12, and carried a 33–27 advantage into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER: COACH ROTO CREATED THE COUNTERPUNCH

GLA-B emerged from the interval with a more purposeful offensive structure.

Instead of repeatedly challenging Sacred Heart’s congestion inside, the Knights widened their spacing and used perimeter shooting to pull SHA’s defenders away from the lane.

Pett Andrei Candog connected from three. Matig-a followed with another triple. Noynay’s offensive rebounding maintained possession pressure, and GLA-B erased the six-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 35.

Candog struck again from deep to give the Knights a 38–36 lead. Buntag then supplied interior scoring, rim protection, and defensive playmaking as GLA-B extended its advantage to four.

The response carried Coach Roto’s tactical imprint. His Knights shifted the point of attack, used the three-point line to destabilize SHA’s help defense, and allowed Buntag to operate against a less compact interior shell.

But Coach Pecaoco stopped the momentum with a timeout at 4:15.

Sacred Heart returned to its strongest structural principles: paint touches, active hands, and connected passing.

Dospueblos converted inside. Lagapa attacked the lane. Pantinos produced multiple steals and turned one into a transition finish. SHA closed the quarter with a sharp counterrun, transforming a 42–38 deficit into a 50–47 lead.

The Flaming Warriors won the period by only one point, 17–20, but the closing sequence prevented GLA-B from carrying its strongest momentum into the fourth.

FOURTH QUARTER: BOLTRON CAUGHT FIRE—THEN SHA TOOK THE FINAL POSSESSIONS

Pantinos opened the final period with a three-pointer, giving Sacred Heart a six-point cushion.

Buntag continued to battle inside, but the game’s next major tactical shift came from Khris Jay Boltron.

Boltron punished SHA’s collapsing defense with three fourth-quarter triples. His first reduced the deficit to one. His second tied the contest at 55. His third gave GLA-B a 58–55 advantage with 3:54 remaining.

For several possessions, Boltron’s shooting gravity altered the geometry of the floor. Sacred Heart could no longer sink deeply into the paint without conceding clean perimeter windows.

Coach Pecaoco immediately called timeout.

The stoppage proved critical. Sacred Heart emerged with greater defensive urgency and returned the ball to its interior creators instead of answering GLA-B’s perimeter attack with rushed three-pointers.

Carl Niño Vidal cut the deficit to one, but Candog calmly converted two free throws to restore GLA-B’s 60–57 advantage with 1:34 remaining.

The Knights were within four defensive stops of victory.

Sacred Heart took control instead.

Dospueblos scored inside with 1:04 remaining, reducing the margin to one. On the next critical possession, GLA-B committed another turnover—the weakness that had undermined its otherwise efficient shooting throughout the game.

Vidal attacked immediately and converted at the rim with 46 seconds left. Buntag fouled on the play, and Dospueblos completed the sequence at the line to give SHA a 62–60 lead.

GLA-B still had an opportunity to answer, but consecutive attempts around the paint failed to fall. Lagapa secured an essential defensive rebound, Vidal added a free throw, and another Knights turnover extinguished the comeback.

Pantinos delivered the final blow with a basket in the closing seconds.

Sacred Heart finished on an 8–0 run and walked away with a 65–60 victory.

THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE FINISH

GLA-B shot 47% from three-point range, converting seven of 15 attempts. That perimeter accuracy kept the Knights alive and nearly completed their comeback.

But their shooting could not compensate for their possession deficit.

The Knights committed 36 turnovers and recorded only one assist. Sacred Heart accumulated 21 steals, distributed 13 assists, and outscored GLA-B 42–26 in the paint.

That 16-point interior advantage became the game’s clearest tactical separation.

Dospueblos earned Player of the Game honors with 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and one block. Five of his rebounds came on the offensive glass, giving Sacred Heart repeated opportunities to sustain pressure around the rim.

Vidal added 11 points and delivered the go-ahead basket. Pantinos finished with nine points, five rebounds, and seven steals—his defensive anticipation repeatedly changing the direction of the game.

For GLA-B, Buntag produced a team-high 14 points, six rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. Noynay controlled 10 rebounds, while Boltron scored all nine of his points from beyond the arc during the Knights’ fourth-quarter surge.

THE COACHING BATTLE

Coach Roto’s adjustments gave GLA-B every opportunity to win. His second-half spacing opened the perimeter, activated Candog and Boltron, and allowed the Knights to overturn an 11-point deficit.

Coach Pecaoco, however, won the final tactical exchange.

Following Boltron’s third three-pointer, Sacred Heart abandoned the temptation to answer from distance. The Flaming Warriors returned to defensive pressure, interior execution, and controlled late-game possessions.

The final score was decided by five points, but the deeper difference was structural.

GLA-B created enough shots to threaten the result. Sacred Heart created enough pressure to own the ending.

The Knights won the perimeter battle.

The Flaming Warriors won the possessions that decided the game.

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